!Firenze, Venezia, Roma!

Oh man, what a wonderful weekend!

This quick excursion to see Morgan and Italy has been my favorite so far, partly due to wandering around the loveliest city I have had the pleasure of visiting (and I think Morgan would agree)--Venice. I was amazed that every corner we turned into, every alley we walked down, every square we encountered, had absolutely gorgeous architecture accented with lush floral arrangements. 

Carnival masks

the Doge's Palace...Morgan was obsessed with the Gothic lanterns

While sitting down to about our 10th slice of pizza, we noticed one reason why Venice had such a magical,
quaint feel to it--there were no cars! In fact, there was no sign of modern noisy transport minus the boats that mostly peacefully floated along to their destinations. How long has it been since we've been in a city without the distractions and reminders of the rush, rush, rush of modern life?

The previous day (Saturday) we encountered the grandeur of Roma, which
was another incredible experience where I got a chance to view the 'must-sees' and appreciate how impressive the ancient Roman Empire was. It was also a breathtaking experience to view the statues and
artwork of the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum in Vatican City. No sightings of the Pope unfortunately! 

As previously insinuated, we not only feasted our eyes on the awe-inspiring work of master painters,
sculptors, glassblowers, emperors, popes, etc. , but of course feasted
on the local cuisine. My personal favorite items were a nutella-filled cornetto, pear ricotta raviolli (thank you Florence!), Margharitta pizza, and Bellini (pear juice+ Prosecco wine from Venice).
We spent the in-between time of our day excursions in Florence where Morgan is living. Florence was another wonderful Italian city with the magnificent Duomo and streets and streets of architecture/artwork of centuries of talented, devoted artists. The world famous gelato was pretty great, too!

So basically Ireland and Italy have been the highs of my summer thus far. Whereas Ireland is a place of incomparable natural beauty, Italy has mastered manmade works between the stupendous monuments, statues, history and paintings of Rome and Florence to the buildings, boats, masks, and quaint squares of Venice. The passion Italians have for life and beauty seems to penetrate every part of their culture and I really appreciated sharing in that wonderful culture with no one better than family even if just for a weekend.
I couldn't have asked for a better trip!